Educational mismatch in the quality of employment in the esuropean tourism sector. A Gebder perspective

Abstract

The importance of job quality in the well-being of individuals is a matter of interest for developed countries, and is even included in the Sustainable Development Goals - Goal 8 on decent work - of the United Nations 2030 Agenda. International economic literature recognises the influence of quality employment on the well-being of individuals, as well as the existence of more unfavourable working conditions in sectors such as tourism and especially for vulnerable groups such as young people and women. However, these studies do not tend to adopt a sectoral perspective and are usually carried out at the country level, leaving aside the presence of institutional factors that could arise when making an international comparison. On the other hand, we highlight the scarcity of studies that include educational mismatch in the definition of quality employment, despite the effects that this misallocation of resources generates in the individual and society. Thus, this paper analyses the factors that determine obtaining a quality job in the tourism sector at the European level, taking into account individual and contextual factors in each country that allow us to study what part of the heterogeneity observed is explained by the heterogeneity between countries and what part is explained by the differences between individuals in each country. In addition, and given the importance of the employment situation of women in hospitality, we consider analysing this issue from a gender perspective. To do so, we employ a random-constant multilevel logit model using supranational data from the European Wage Structure Survey 2018 (EES-18) and other European statistical sources. The originality of this work lies in four sections: The sectoral perspective, by carrying out the analysis in the tourism sector given its specific characteristics and its importance in Europe. The international comparison, which allows us to capture the extent to which the institutional heterogeneity between these countries affects working conditions and the precariousness of employment. The gender perspective, which allows us to compare the situation of women and men in Europe when it comes to finding quality employment in this sector. And the incorporation of educational mismatch in the definition of quality employment, not only because of its importance and incidence in European economies but also because it is influenced by institutional factors such as the labour structure of each country or educational policies.